Friday, December 27, 2013

Cry 'Havoc' (1943)

“They
say after you've been in the army for a while you can do anything a horse does.”

I
have written about films that take place during World War II quite a few times.
Films during this time were all about boosting morale and American propaganda. I
always like seeing films where women have an active role in the war effort
because American women at this time did have an active role. They were not
allowed to actually fight but they were allowed to join auxiliary groups of the
Army, Navy, and Air Force. They were allowed to join the Red Cross as nurses
and aides. They were brought to war zones as nurses to help doctors care for the
wounded. Before this time women in America never had such freedom and
importance. Many of the films showing women contributing to the war effort was
a love story more than it focused on empowered women. Cry ‘Havoc’ from 1943 is a little different. MGM tried to insert a
love triangle if it can be called that but it genuinely focused on nurse in the
Pacific Theater struggling not only to do their job but to survive.

Smith
(Margaret Sullivan) and Marsh (Fay Bainter) are overworked in an army hospital.
Smith is sick but does not want to go home she wants to stay and help. She
tells Marsh the next time she has an attack she will leave.

Pat
(Ann Sothern), Grace (Joan Blondell), and some other nurses get stuck pushing a
truck they were riding in breaks down. They learn they will be getting their
orders from Lt. Smith even though they are volunteers. They have all come from
Manila where they escaped before the Japanese invaded. Smith asks the girls
their names and their skills. Pat worked as a dancer, soda jerk, and a
waitress, Grace was a burlesque dancer, and all the other girls have no skills
useful to what they will be assigned. Pat is not thrilled about getting orders
from a woman. She likes one of the male soldiers a Lt. Tim Holt but so does
Smith who has been on the island longer. That night they hear the air raid
siren and bombs dropping. One of the girls, Sue, went out for a walk before
hand everyone especially her sister is worried about her. Their bunk starts
shaking and dirt starts falling. Marsh calls to say the hospital was hit and
they are all needed to help. Grace has a hard time especially after she talked
to a poor soldier who was dying.

After
the bombs have fallen and the girls return to their bunk Andrea goes looking
for her sister. Constance has a melt down everything is too much for her. Pat
cannot handle Constance crying and complaining and freaks out a bit
herself. Constance later apologizes to
Pat and they talk. She does not think any one of them will make it home.

Sue
is found she was buried for four days with half a dozen dead bodies. When Sue
comes back the whole bunk is quiet. Grace tries to distract everyone she
explains her strip tease number. Then they all hear Sue scream out in fear.

Supplies
and food are running low. Three ships were supposed to be on their way but they
were hit and sunk. The area is bombed again and the hospital is hit again as
well. A man dies in Constance’s arms and Grace gets a piece of shrapnel in her
leg and Smith pulls it out. Smith is upset with Grace for not taking cover
properly. Grace yells at her about liking Lt. Holt and how Pat has been seeing
him. Lt. Holt calls Smith with the news that a lot of the hospital staff have
been killed and supplies are no longer coming in. The Japanese have the island
surrounded. Since they are all volunteers they can leave for safety at
Corregidor. Constance says she is staying. All the women decide to stay.

As
Constance and two other were out swimming an enemy plane comes and starts
shooting. Constance is shot and killed. They find out the plane was on its way
from fighting and saw them and just fired. Pat finds out from Holt what the
Japanese were planning to do. She says they all have no chance.

Smith
gets another attack. She does not want one of the women to call Marsh she wants
to stay as long as Holt is there. She lets the woman know that Holt is her
husband and that she has malignant malaria which Holt does not know.

Orders
are given to evacuate. Pat is told Lt. Holt was killed fighting. Smith comes in
and she told what happened to Holt. She goes into his empty office one last
time. The guns go quiet. The silence drives Grace crazy. She feels like she
should be doing something sp she starts to pack. Pat is told Holt was Smith’s
husband and how Smith has malaria. Pat realizes that Holt was a good man he
never once made a move on her.

Gun
fire begins again and tanks in the distance. They are all surrounded. They all
forced to surrender to the Japanese.

The
entire cast was great. I loved Ann Sothern and Joan Blondell. They were feisty and
tough. I would have died to see them star in a comedy film together. Sothern
could have been like Maisie Ravier and Blondell could have been like her feisty
Pre-Code characters. They could have made a great film together. Margaret
Sullivan was wonderful. I have only seen her in one film before this and I liked
her just as much as the first film. Fay Bainter is not in the film very much
but her character is very good. Robert Mitchum has a very, very small part in
this. He is soldier that dies in Ella Raines’ arms.

I
really enjoyed Cry ‘Havoc’. I thought
it was interesting to see all these different women from all different walks of
life come together under the same call to help their country. This is what
really happened women from all over America from all walks of life either rich,
middle class, or poor came together to help win the war. I liked Cry ‘Havoc’ because it was not a happy
ending there was no soldier coming home to his new wife or new love (There was
unfortunately a bit of a love triangle it is poor and not thought out at all
but it does not get in the way of the main story). This was not a romanticized
glorified film of what war is. Women like the women in this film went through
these horrible trying conditions. Cry ‘Havoc’
is a great film. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. It made me appreciate what
women sacrificed to pitch in to win the war.

About Me

I am une cinephile to every inch of the word. I started this blog to share my love for movies and what I have learned about them along the way. I like and watch all kinds of movies. For the movie lover in all of you out there, I hope you enjoy this blog.